1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic endoscopic image processing apparatus that performs image processing on left and right image signals obtained by a stereoscopic endoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
Endoscopes are being widely used in recent years in the fields of medical treatment and the like. When performing surgery or the like that requires a high degree of precision, in some cases it is difficult to perceive the relevant site or the like with a normal endoscope that uses a single image pickup device, and therefore a stereoscopic endoscope is used with a stereoscopic sense (sense of depth) can be perceived with respect to the depth direction.
In the case of using a stereoscopic endoscope, an image processing apparatus is used that performs image processing on left and right image signals that are obtained by left and right image pickup devices, and outputs a generated stereoscopic image signal to a display portion or a display apparatus.
A conventional example of such kind of image processing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-82829, which discloses an image processing apparatus that performs larger blur processing on a peripheral region than on a central region in a right-eye image or a left-eye image. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2011-82829 also discloses setting a larger blur intensity as the amount of deviation between a right-eye image and a left-eye image increases. Performing blur processing in this manner facilitates recognition by an observer of a stereoscopic image that formed by fusing a right-eye image and left-eye image.